Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who efficiently ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun management after a mass taking pictures on a New York commuter prepare left her husband useless and her son severely wounded, has died. She was 81.
McCarthy went from political novice to one of many nation’s main advocates for gun management laws within the aftermath of the 1993 Lengthy Island Rail Highway bloodbath. Nonetheless, the suburban New York Democrat discovered restricted success in opposition to the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation and different Second Modification advocates.
McCarthy introduced in June 2013 that she was present process remedy for lung most cancers. She introduced her retirement in January 2014.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed flags on all state authorities buildings to be flown at half-staff in honor of the congresswoman on Friday.
“Representative Carolyn McCarthy was a strong advocate for gun control and an even more fierce leader,” Hochul mentioned.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi mentioned the nation has “lost a fierce champion.”
“Carolyn channeled her grief and loss into advocacy for change, becoming one of the most dedicated gun violence prevention advocates,” Suozzi mentioned on X.
Generally known as the “gun lady” on Capitol Hill, McCarthy mentioned she couldn’t cease crying after studying that her former colleague, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, had been critically wounded in a January 2011 taking pictures in Arizona.
“It’s like a cancer in our society,” she mentioned of gun violence. “And if we keep doing nothing to stop it, it’s only going to spread.”
Throughout one notably rancorous debate over gun present loopholes in 1999, McCarthy was dropped at tears at 1 a.m. on the Home flooring.
“I am Irish and I am not supposed to cry in front of anyone. But I made a promise a long time ago. I made a promise to my son and to my husband. If there was anything that I could do to prevent one family from going through what I have gone through then I have done my job,” she mentioned.
“Let me go home. Let me go home,” she pleaded.
McCarthy was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Lengthy Island. She turned a nurse and later married Dennis McCarthy after assembly on a Lengthy Island seashore. That they had one son, Kevin, throughout a tumultuous marriage through which they divorced however reconciled and remarried.
McCarthy was a Republican when, on Dec. 7, 1993, a gunman opened hearth on a prepare automotive leaving New York Metropolis. By the point passengers tackled the shooter, six folks had been useless and 19 wounded.
She jumped into politics after her GOP congressman voted to repeal an assault weapons ban.
Her shock victory impressed a made-for-television film produced by Barbra Streisand. Since that first victory in 1996, McCarthy was by no means critically challenged for reelection in a closely Republican district simply east of New York Metropolis..
Some critics described McCarthy as a one-issue lawmaker, a competition she bristled about, pointing to pursuits in enhancing well being care and schooling. However she was practical about her legacy on gun management, as soon as telling an interviewer:
“I’ve come to peace with the fact that will be in my obituary.”
